According to the Korea Herald, girl group NJZ, formerly known as NewJeans, is said to be joining Beasts And Natives Alike (BANA) - the record label behind many of the girl group's hits, such as "Attention", "Hype Boy", "Ditto", "Cookie", "OMG", "ETA", "Bubble Gum"...
When contacted by the Korea Herald on February 11, BANA declined to comment on the possibility of a contract with NJZ. However, the newspaper noted, BANA neither confirmed nor denied the speculation.
Rumors spread further after NJZ member Hyein revealed during an Instagram live broadcast on February 7 that the group would soon announce a new management company.
"Don't worry too much about us, we will announce a new management company soon" - Hyein said to reassure fans.
BANA artist Kim Ximya also confirmed during an online fan meeting on February 6 that the company is preparing to introduce a new group.
On February 10, member Hanni shared a curious message on NJZ's Instagram, saying, "It might take some time to get used to working live here." This suggests that NJZ is adapting to the new environment, raising speculation that the group may have found a new home after ADOR.
BANA became known to the public when the company's in-house producers 250 (Lee Ho Hyeong) and FRNK (Park Jinsu) participated in composing many of NewJeans' hits, starting with their debut song "Attention" written in 2020.
The label's founder, CEO Kim Ki Hyun, has a long-standing friendship with former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, dating back to their time working at SM Entertainment in the early 2010s.
Min Hee Jin - the producer who created NewJeans - asked Kim Ki Hyun's company to write songs for the girl group after she became CEO of ADOR in 2020. Their strong relationship and teamwork further fueled rumors that NJZ might join BANA.
Music critic Lim Hee Yun said that if NJZ continues to operate under BANA's management, there will be both advantages and challenges to consider.
"BANA has essentially been responsible for producing the music for NewJeans and has a close relationship with the members, which makes it easier for them to work together than other (company) options.
However, since BANA is a relatively small company, it needs to work closely with other companies for management, promotion and most importantly, budget investment.
In such a scenario, conflicts with HYBE could arise in many ways. Of course, the most pressing issue now is how to resolve the exclusive contract dispute with ADOR," the critic said.
All 5 members of NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein) announced the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR (under HYBE Group) from November 29, 2024, due to the company not fulfilling its contractual obligations.
In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit in court to verify that the contract between the company and NewJeans was still valid, and filed for an injunction to prevent NewJeans members from signing advertising contracts with third parties.
Despite the unresolved contract dispute, the five members of NewJeans created their own Instagram account "jeanzforfree", which was changed to "njz_official" on February 7, when the new group name was set as NJZ.
They also revealed that NJZ's new song will be released when the group performs at the ComplexCon concert event, taking place on March 23 in Hong Kong (China).
